Increasingly, Philadelphia law firms love L.A. Why?

Philadelphia law firms have apparently grown to love L.A., as six of Center City’s nine largest full-service firms have opened Los Angeles locations in the past five years, joining the other three that were already situated in Southern California.

The latest came last week when Dechert opened a location with four litigation partners from Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. Drinker Biddle & Reath has added 17 Los Angeles lawyers in two separate acquisitions in the past four months. Blank Rome opened in Los Angeles in 2009, Ballard Spahr in 2007 and Duane Morris and Fox Rothschild in 2006.

“I think the reasons for this are mixture of client needs on the West Coast and the firms’ fulfilling expansion goals,” said legal recruiter Robert Nourian of Philadelphia’s Coleman Nourian. “It could be Northern California or Southern California, but they want to be there. The North has always been viewed as being more attractive but if there are no great opportunities there, then firms might look at the South. And in some cases, Southern California is preferable due to client needs, especially if you do not have a big tech practice.”

None of the Los Angeles offices are particularly big — Morgan Lewis has 57 lawyers but no other Philadelphia firm has cracked 30. But Philadelphia firms have added lawyers in a variety of practice areas, though they admit that strong corporate lawyers have been tougher to attract. While Los Angeles is seemingly dominated by the entertainment industry, there are also significant client opportunities in areas such as real estate, aerospace, financial services, energy and health care. It also has one of the busiest court dockets in the nation.

Dechert, Morgan Lewis, Drinker Biddle and Duane Morris all have larger Northern California sites. But firms like Ballard Spahr, Blank Rome and Fox Rothschild entered Southern California first and have tried to grow their locations organically.

Blank Rome co-Chairman and CEO Alan Hoffman said the firm opened in Los Angeles because it had almost 200 clients with significant operations there, many of whom said they would give the firm more work if it had a Golden State presence. Unlike New York and Washington, where the firm entered the market by means of a significant merger, Blank Rome is attempting to grow organically in Los Angeles and has moved from just five to 16 lawyers.

When Blank Rome called Bill Small, then a partner in the Los Angeles office of Boston-based Bingham McCutchen, in late 2008 to see if he would be interested in opening an office for the firm, he said he had never heard of the firm. Now Small runs its Los Angeles office and is trying to recruit others.

“It’s a function of good branding, contacts and roots in the community,” Small said. “But it’s a challenge because reputation is built through word of mouth and that takes time to build.”

Los Angeles-based legal recruiter Alan Miles said it is tough to grow organically in L.A., as he advises firms from outside the market to pursue larger acquisitions, preferably with an anchor partner or partners that have significant business and strong reputations to recruit additional talent.

Miles said most of the Philadelphia firms have yet to really take off in Los Angeles.

“L.A.’s a bit snobby about that,” Miles said. “A Philadelphia law firm? Unless you are a big money firm like Dechert or Morgan Lewis that generates excitement, I don’t know if they have the same cachet as firms from New York, Washington or Texas.”

But Miles said because much of the legal work done in Los Angeles involves midmarket clients, the lower billing rates of Philadelphia firms could be attractive. He noted that several large New York law firms “came here and didn’t make it because they misjudged the market. They were arrogant and came in with the same [high] billing rates they had and it didn’t take here.”

The question arises as to whether Los Angeles has become a key destination market for large firm expansion like New York and Washington.

“Other than entertainment, nothing defines L.A. like technology in San Francisco, government in Washington or corporate in New York,” Morgan Lewis Chairman Francis Milone said. “The competition is thick but I don’t think L.A. has been a destination for big firms. Many firms have a presence but don’t focus on growth like they do in San Francisco.”